Collocations with Money

An important step to improving your vocabulary is to not only learn the appropriate terms, but to learn the words that commonly go together with those terms. These word combinations are often, adjective + noun, verb + noun, and noun + verb pairs. Each of these collocation sheets provide collocations for commonly used words arranged into categories. Each collocation is illustrated with an example sentence.

Adjectives + "Money"

The following list includes adjectives that are commonly used with the noun 'money'. Adjectives that are similar in meaning are grouped together. Each adjective or adjective group has an example sentence to illustrate usage.

easy

He thinks working in marketing is easy money. I think he'll find it's quite a different story.

bonus, extra

If you complete the project before next Tuesday, there'll be some bonus money.

hard-earned

The best way to feel good about any purchase is if it's been made with hard-earned money.

government, public, taxpayers'

It's not right to waste taxpayers' money on projects that benefit those who are already wealthy.

pocket, spending

Would you like a little extra pocket money this weekend?

gas, lunch, petrol, rent, etc

Could you lend me some lunch money today?

prize, grant, scholarship

They won a lot of grant money for their research into DNA.

stolen, dirty, bribe, ransom

I don't want your dirty money!

hush, protection

That gang is demanding protection money from every store on the street. It's scandalous!

pension, retirement

We plan to move to Hawaii with our retirement money.

counterfeit, fake

The police discovered more than $2 million in fake money.

Verb + "Money"

The following list includes verbs that are commonly followed by the noun 'money' or an amount of a particular type of money or currency. Verbs that are similar in meaning are grouped together. Each verb or verb group has an example sentence to illustrate usage.

coin, print

The government printed a lot of money in 2001.

count

Let's count your money and see if you have enough to buy that.

bring in, earn, make,

The company brought in more than $4 million.

borrow

Could I borrow some money for this weekend?

lend

I'll lend you some money until next month.

bank, deposit, pay in, pay into the bank, put in the bank

I deposited a large amount of money last Friday.

draw out, get out, take out, withdraw

She took $500 out of our account.

pay out, shell out, spend

They paid out more than $300 dollars for that lamp.

fritter away, squander, throw away

I hate it when you squander our savings!

hoard, save, set aside, stash away

They set aside $200 each week for savings.

contribute, donate, give

They donated more than $200,000 to charity last year.

give back, pay back, refund, repay

I'll pay you back the money by the end of next week.

owe

She owes Thomas a lot of money.

share

Let's share the money we've found!

accept, take

I'm afraid I can't accept your money.

be worth

That painting is worth a lot of money.

change, exchange

I'd like to change twenty dollars please. Could you give me four five dollar bills?

allocate, earmark

The committee decided to allocate $50,000 for the project.

channel, direct, funnel

The program directs more than $5 billion to help the homeless.

embezzle, extort, siphon off, steal

He was charged with embezzling money from the company.

launder

They used the internet to launder the stolen money.

"Money" + Verb

The following list includes verbs that commonly follow the noun 'money'. Verbs that are similar in meaning are grouped together. Each verb or verb group has an example sentence to illustrate usage.

come from something

Money for the exhibit comes from donations to the museum.

go to something

The money goes to research.

come in , flow in, pour in

The money just kept pouring in! It was amazing!

buy something

Who says that money can't buy happiness?

"Money" + Noun

The following list includes nouns that commonly follow the noun 'money'. Nouns that are similar in meaning are grouped together. Each noun or noun group has an example sentence to illustrate usage.

management, manager

I think you should hire a money manager for your savings.

supply

The money supply is very tight at the moment.

order

You can pay by money order.

Phrases with "Money"

The following list includes phrases made with the noun 'money'. Each phrase has an example sentence to illustrate usage.

bet money on something

Let's bet $400 dollars on the race.

get money off something

Ask if you can get some money off the display model.

get your money's worth

Make sure to spend the whole day at the park to get your money's worth.